Veteran, talented Richmond Hill girls soccer team sets its sights high for season

Scott Thompson/Bryan County Now Senior midfielder Kayla Taylor (left), seen here during Monday's practice, is one of the key returners and a co-captain for the Lady Wildcats. She was a 2012 Savannah Morning News first team selection and All-Region selection.

Richmond Hill girls soccer senior midfielders Kayla Taylor and Kaitlynn Martinson are crystal clear about what they want to accomplish in their final season. That list includes upholding the Lady Wildcats’ tradition of being one of the premier programs in the greater Savannah area, winning a region championship, making another deep run in the playoffs and, ultimately, getting sized for a state championship ring.

“We’ve all had our fair share of field time now, and now is the time for us seniors to shine and keep our legacy going,” Taylor said.

Added Martinson: “Everyone (on the team) feels a lot more comfortable playing with one another, and we’ve stepped up our game a lot this year. The pace has improved, which will help against the tougher schools.”

Despite the move up in classification from GHSA AAAA to AAAAA, Richmond Hill coach Steve Kollman has equally lofty expectations for a team that returns eight of 11 starters from last year’s squad that went 15-6 and advanced to the state quarterfinals.

“We’re a junior- and senior-heavy team. Most of these girls have been playing together the better part of six years,” said Kollman, who is now in his 13th season as head coach. “We’re shooting to get back in the quarterfinals and into the semifinals this year, win the region and do well in the state playoffs just like almost every year.”

The Lady Wildcats’ biggest task will be finding a way to replicate the offense produced by the departed Sarah Goolsby. Goolsby, a 2012 Savannah Morning News first team selection, scored 27 goals last season in 18 games. Rachel Blitchington, who was expected to help fill that void, will miss the season after suffering a torn ACL in offseason club play.

“It’s the first time in a long time we haven’t had a true forward to count on to go to the net and do whatever you have to do to score,” Kollman said. “It’s a bad thing in some ways that you don’t have that one person who has the mentality of scoring every time they get the ball. The flipside is you get a lot better team play because a lot of people have to step up and fill that 20-goal role.”

Kollman said he will experiment with different formations to find the ideal scoring threats in the team’s preseason scrimmage Friday at Savannah Arts Academy, ahead of the Feb. 19 season opener at Hilton Head High School.

The Lady Wildcats will be loaded in the midfield with Taylor, also a first team SMN selection a year ago, Martinson, Jasmine Marquez, Marzjan Mustafa, Lisa Bausum, Carly Mills and Casey Qua all back and in the mix. Sarah Mazur, Christina Pitts and Savannah Beecher all return to a backline that will look to replace the strong defense of Lisa Barnes, and reigning SMN first team goalkeeper Caroline Smith will be back in the net.

Kollman expects challenges in the new Region 3-AAAAA from Effingham County, Jenkins and Ware County, but he said things should ultimately boil down between the Lady Wildcats and Glynn Academy.

“The key is going to be our pace of play, good decisions and good touches on the ball,” he said. “The more we can run our opponents into the ground with cardio fitness, the better the second half of games will be for us.”